Brett Brown: Markelle Fultz looks great but may not play in summer league

Brett Brown: Markelle Fultz looks great but may not play in summer league

On Friday, Sixers head coach and interim general manager Brett Brown spoke with reporters before heading back out to Los Angeles where he’ll check up on Joel Embiid and Markelle Fultz before attending the NBA Awards Show on Monday night with Ben Simmons.

Among the topics Brown discussed was Fultz, his progress and whether the number one overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft would be playing in the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League.

While Brown wasn’t willing to say whether Fultz would or wouldn’t participate, he did go out of his way to mention how great the young guard looks.

“His development of his shot is looking great,” the coach said. “The progress of his shot is looking great. His body, we all see him with his shoulders and his arms and his wingspan… He’s got a perfect basketball body and it looks great physically.”

#Sixers coach Brett Brown talked about @MarkelleF’s shot and the PG’s chances of playing in summer league. While he wouldn’t come out and say it, one would assume it’s unlikely that Fultz plays based on Brown’s response. Here’s the video: pic.twitter.com/iF9km7AAON

The good news there is that Fultz has apparently managed to get himself into top shape. When he does hit the court, perhaps it’ll be smooth sailing. But the “when” is the real question, and it’s worth noting that Brown wasn’t willing to put a timeline on Fultz, at least not now.

“He’s not doing much playing now,” Brown said. “The effort has been his shot… It’s back to foundational type stuff and to like expedite that worries me a little bit as it relates to summer league.”

The Sixers will begin summer play on Friday, July 6 when they take on the Celtics at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas at 4:30pm ET.

Our advice? Don’t count on Fultz being among those playing.

“He’s in a good place and so I feel, not now, we can give you guys answers as for what’s that mean summer league wise, I don’t know but know that’s a lot on my mind that I think he’s in a really good place and that he’s really come along.”

Unfortunately for Sixers fans, it sounds like he still has a long way to go.

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Moke Hamilton

Moke Hamilton is a writer and columnist for the USA TODAY Sports Media Group's NBA Wire. Based in New York City, Moke has covered the NBA for seven seasons, previously working for Turner Sports and NBC Universal. He can be heard from time to time on the airwaves of 98.7FM ESPN New York.